Obama issued an executive order regarding the happenings in Libya.
You can read it in full from CNN at link.

Your thoughts?

I of course can only hope that we can get a desirable outcome from stopping our dealings with Libya but I have doubts about its effectiveness. The whole do something by doing nothing doesn't really bode well with me.

deanhills

I'm almost certain Obama's Executive Order must have been motivated by oil. I'm particularly interested in this portion of Obama's Executive Order:

Quote:

I further find
that there is a serious risk that Libyan state assets will be
misappropriated by Qadhafi, members of his government, members
of his family, or his close associates if those assets are not
protected.

Interesting that Obama did not act similarly with regard to Mubarak though! It has to be something to do with oil.

Libya for the last few years has become a Mecca of sorts for oil drilling companies to explore for oil. There has to be a link with the large oil companies and Obama's action. Problem is, we are not dealing with a sane person here. Qadhafi is not Mubarak. So hope that all Western expats are getting out of the country fast, as there is bound to be a retaliation for this kind of move by the US, and also the UN as it would seem there is pressure on the UN to start boycotts against Libya as well.

I'm sure Qadhafi is already raking up historic incidences between US and Libya and must be beyond deranged by now. Wonder whether Obama is hoping that when Qadhafi gets deranged that the more sane members of the Libya Government will sort Qadhafi and his sons out as Obama's move has to be based on intelligence that we do not have in front of us?

Here is some more news from Yahoo!News. I found this portion of interest in the article:

Quote:

"We will stand steadfastly with the Libyan people in their demand for universal rights, and a government that is responsive to their aspirations. Their human dignity cannot be denied," Obama said.

Interesting that Obama did not make a similar announcement with Egypt.

standready

deanhills wrote:

IHere is some more news from Yahoo!News. I found this portion of interest in the article:

Quote:

"We will stand steadfastly with the Libyan people in their demand for universal rights, and a government that is responsive to their aspirations. Their human dignity cannot be denied," Obama said.

Interesting that Obama did not make a similar announcement with Egypt.

It is all about the oil and protecting the oil companies. One reason this order was delayed was to get the oil company personnel (and others) out of Libya to prevent the nut from taking hostages.

deanhills

standready wrote:

It is all about the oil and protecting the oil companies. One reason this order was delayed was to get the oil company personnel (and others) out of Libya to prevent the nut from taking hostages.

I'm puzzled however. Did they really get all the oil company personnel out of Libya? As the US only assisted those with bona fide US Passports. There were thousands of dual citizen personnel around as well as Libyans working for those companies. I'm not an expert on the drilling locations, but if they are like in Oman for example, they can be remote, so possibly some of the personnel could be stranded?

Actually, did the US and the UN not have embargoes passed to Libya a long time ago, or were they lifted some time ago, after Gadafi bent?

I remember a long time ago... and this is about more than 10 years ago, that Libya had a problem with the US, and this was because Gadhafi would not give US, the bomber involved in it.

I'm not sure if Libya did finally give the bomber, and mainly due to the fact that he had cancer.

At the present moment, its always about the oil, but I still think that the American people's safety, abroad, working there are of priority.

deanhills

menino wrote:

Actually, did the US and the UN not have embargoes passed to Libya a long time ago, or were they lifted some time ago, after Gadafi bent?

That is correct. But then all got forgiven as late as a few years ago and American oil companies started to drill for oil again. I have a feeling however that the forgiveness had a contingency plan written in it, as they must have detailed evidence of how unstable Gadhafi is.

menino wrote:

I remember a long time ago... and this is about more than 10 years ago, that Libya had a problem with the US, and this was because Gadhafi would not give US, the bomber involved in it.

I think it was more than this. Gadhafi was considered a real threat to the stability of that area and a thread to the US because of his links with terror groups.